Hylodesmum pauciflorum
( formerley Desmodium pauciflorum¹ )

Few-flowered Tick-trefoil

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Family: Fabaceae (Legume / Pea family)

Mid-Atlantic bloom time: June - August
Mid-Atlantic fruit ripe: August - October

Few-flowered Tick-trefoil's flowers are white, not pink or purple (like Pointed-leaf Tick-trefoil (Hylodesmum glutinosum)). Its flowering stems also have leaves on them (unlike Naked-flowered Tick-trefoil (Hylodesmum nudiflorum)).

The genus Hylodesmum (Forest Tick-trefoils) was separated from Desmodium in 2000 after determining that a large number of species in that former genus formed a monophyletically distinct clade sufficiently different from other species in Desmodium to warrant elevation to genus level. The new genus name is derived from Greek 'hyle' (meaning forest), and 'desmos' (meaning a chain, and as abbreviated form of Desmodium).¹. The common term 'tick' derives from their triangular seeds which (when ripe) cling to clothes or fur to hitchhike to a new location.

27 July 2021 Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA	27 July 2021 Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA	11 July 2021 Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA	16 July 2023 Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA
16 July 2023 Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA	16 July 2023 Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA	11 July 2021 Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA	27 July 2021 Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA
27 July 2021 Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA (ripening seeds)	7 August 2024 Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA	16 July 2023 Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA

References

1:   H. Ohashi, R. R. Mill. "Hylodesmum, A New Name for Podocarpium (Leguminosae)". Edinburgh Journal of Botany, 57:2, p. 171-188. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2000.

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